Former BJP leader and Karnataka MLC Laxman Savadi will join the Congress on Friday, April 14. The news was confirmed by Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief DK Shivakumar, who added that many more BJP leaders will switch sides in the coming days. Savadi, who was the Deputy Chief Minister from 2019 to 2021, recently resigned from the BJP after he was denied a ticket to contest from Athani for the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections.
Savadi travelled to Bengaluru on Friday to meet with senior Congress leaders, including Shivakumar, former CM Siddaramaiah and AICC general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala. Addressing the media, Shivakumar said that Savadi will meet the Chairman of the Legislative Council at 4 pm on Friday, following which he would head to the KPCC office to join the party. “We all welcome Savadi. There are no conditions for him to join Congress. Not just him, many others will join the party in the coming days,” Shivakumar said.
An upset Savadi, after being denied the ticket, said that he “had self-respect and was not one to go with a begging bowl.” His ire was also directed at MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi, who he felt was responsible for making sure his loyalist Mahesh Kumthahalli got the Athani ticket instead. Savadi and Ramesh have been at loggerheads for a long time, and this also has led to factions in the BJP.
When rumours began floating that Savadi was considering jumping ship to Congress, Ramesh Jarkiholi spoke to the media and said Savadi should not join the Congress as it was a “party of cheats” and that he would not be respected there. Ramesh's brother Satish is a Congress MLA from Yamakanamardi. Ramesh himself was a longtime Congressman, but shifted to BJP in 2019 and was crucial in bringing down the Congress-JD(S) coalition government.